Projecting Power: Visual Strategy for Movements

Whether or not we realize it, our understanding of social movements is shaped by the images we see of them. Visuals make up a large part of how movements communicate with our targets, the broader public, and our own members. But often, we gloss over core questions of how to create strategic visuals, and evaluate their impact on our strategy.

This two-part series on visual strategy with Josh Yoder and Rachel Schragis of Look Loud will help you make a plan to create the images we need to win. You’ll learn both why and how we create a visually rich movement culture, and leverage imagery to help meet our other organizing goals.

After watching these two 90 minute sessions, you’ll be equipped with tools to develop a visual identity to match your strategy, and use visual content as the foundation for strong communications and social media work. You’ll be ready to tell a bolder story in the street, maximizing threat to power and making actions more welcoming and joyful. You will learn how to timeline the development and distribution of imagery, and use visuals to strengthen training practices and deepening collective ownership of a movement’s identity. You’ll also be able to articulate how visuals are interacting with your current strategy, and have a strong foundation to plan the visuals you need to win.

Part 1: Creating who we are: How to develop shared visual identity for your movement or organization.

Part 2: Telling a story worth fighting for: Integrating visual strategy into actions, campaigns and trainings.

These presentations were recorded in March 2022.

Presenters

Josh Yoder was raised in South central Pennsylvania in the early Bush years–watching the media use the war on terror as an excuse to normalize bigotry, and participating in anti-war and environmental justice movements. With a background in graphic design, set production, and photography. Previous to co-founding Look Loud, he worked on visual strategy and design work for Sunrise Movement, The Natural History Museum/Not an Alternative, The March for Science, and the Public Society. His work supports demonstrations in the street to be powerful in digital space. To make our actions reach people who haven’t shown up yet. Because, for me, that’s what makes being in the street feel authentic and powerful.

Rachel Schragis is a born and raised new yorker, former art educator and queer white Jewish extrovert. Previously to co-founding Look Loud, she was part of arts leadership teams for Sunrise Movement and the People’s Climate March, and helped lead art for mobilizations big and small - among them the Fight for $15, the Womens’ March, 1 + 5 year Hurricane Sandy commemorative marches. She is dedicated to the art of mind-mapping, and her most recent community- based mapping poster project, “Unravelling Antisemitism” was recently released in partnership with Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. She is a recipient of the Robert Rauchenberg Artist-As-Activist award, an Earth Day New York Activist of the Year, and Grace Paley Community Organizing fellow at Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. She is also the co-founder of the IG project @Vent_Diagrams.

Vera Parra is an Associate Trainer and Consultant with PowerLabs and a Trainer at Momentum.

Previously she organized for five years with the Cosecha Movement, where she led a successful statewide campaign to expand access to drivers licenses to immigrants in New Jersey, regardless of status. As an organizer in Cosecha she also coordinated the national field program, and experimented with how to run campaigns that build power among immigrant workers and develop leadership at scale.

Before joining Cosecha, Vera worked with Faith In New Jersey, an affiliate of Faith In Action (formerly the PICO National Network) and was a volunteer with the New Jersey Dream Act Coalition. She was introduced to organizing through the Dream Movement where she participated in campaigns to expand in-state tuition to undocumented students, stop deportations, and pressure the Obama Administration to grant administrative relief to immigrants across the country.

How can we help you?

If you are interested in collaborating, get in touch soon. It’s never too early. We typically book engagements six months or more in advance.

Some of the projects we worked on recently include:

  • Supported Dream Defenders, MN350, Pilipino Workers Center, Sunrise Movement, and other organizations to design, launch, and support teams of members

  • Coached leadership teams at Alabama Arise, People’s Action, Sunrise Movement to improve their effectiveness

  • Advised founding teams of several new organizations in the US, Canada, and Europe on how to grow a powerful and healthy organization